Posts Tagged ‘Rézin’
Le génie de la Loire
In honour of Bastille Day (because these beauties could only have come from France), notes from a recent tasting of Loire wines chosen by Sam with a connoisseur’s eye. Most were private imports, a few were importations valise and, as far as I know, none are currently available in Quebec.
PRELUDE
Vouvray 2008, Brut, Méthode traditionnel, Philippe Foreau (Clos Naudin)
100% Chenin Blanc. 13% ABV. The 2011 can be found at the SAQ for $30.
Limpid gold. Tiny bubbles and not tons of them. Yellow fruit, lemon blossom and toast against a chalky background. Dry and minerally with a nipping acidity and effervescence. Long, toasted brioche finish. Impeccable.
FLIGHT 1
Muscadet de Sèvre-et-Maine 2010, Clisson, Domaine de la Pépière
100% Melon de Bourgogne. The estate is represented in Quebec by Vinealis.
Closed nose: faint lemon, pear and chalk. Dry, extracted and dimensional. Trenchant acidity. As much about minerals as fruit. Long, saline finish. Great presence. Austere bordering on severe but oh, so pure and beautiful. My wine of the flight.
Sancerre 2001, Clos de Beaujeu, Gérard Boulay
100% Sauvignon Blanc. 12.5% ABV. Represented in Quebec by Rézin.
Intriguing bouquet: overripe white peach, crystalline minerals and, as one taster noted, a suggestion of mushroom. Dry. Minerally more than fruity – faint citrus and gun smoke. A not off-putting acrid note surfaces on the long finish. Tasting double-blind, I didn’t peg this as either a Sauvignon Blanc or – due to its vibrancy and tension – a 12-year-old wine.
Saumur 2009, La Charpentrie, Domaine du Collier
100% old-vine Chenin Blanc. 13% ABV. Represented in Quebec by oenopole.
Rich nose: peach and some tropical fruit, honey, sour white flowers. Silky and rich with a touch of residual sugar. Brisk acidity provides welcome cut, faint herbs and chalky minerals welcome complexity. Immaculate, authentic and delicious though not particularly deep, at least at this point in its probably long life.
FLIGHT 2
Bourgueil 1993, Busardières, Domaine de la Chevalerie
100% biodynamically farmed Cabernet Franc. 12.5% ABV. Represented in Quebec by La QV.
Delicate but complex: ash, spice, ripe but not jammy boysenberry, humus and hummus, slate and stems. Smooth and supple with fully resolved, velvety tannins and bright acidity. Seemed a bit thin next to the Chinon. On its own, however, complete and surprisingly vibrant at 20 years of age.
Chinon 2005, Domaine Les Roches (Alain and Jérome Lenoir)
100% Cabernet Franc. 12.5% ABV. Represented in Quebec by Glou. This bottle cost around $25.
Initially closed, the nose became more complex and perfumed over the course of the evening. Elderberry liqueur, floral overtones, a hint of meat, some old wood and the faintest note of bacon and new leather. Concentrated, even chewy, yet silky and not heavy. Layers of rich fruit and dark minerals structured by fine, firm tannins and energizing acidity. Long, lightly astringent finish. Superb. My wine of the flight and Cab Franc of the night.
Saumur-Champigny 2008, Clos Rougeard
100% Cabernet Franc. 12.5% ABV. Last I heard, the estate was represented in Quebec by Réserve & Sélection.
Darker, meatier with a hint of fresh tomato, background slate, sawed wood. Tighter than a drum: structured more than fruity and the élevage is showing. You can see that the wine is perfectly proportioned, that the fruit is pure, ripe and deep, that the use of the barrel is masterful. You can also see that the wine needs – at a minimum – another decade to open up. Tasted 24 hours later, the tail end of the bottle had hardly budged.
FLIGHT 3
Chinon 2009, Coteau de Noiré, Philippe Alliet
100% Cabernet Franc. 13% ABV. Represented in Quebec by Le Maître de Chai. The 2010 is sold at the SAQ Signature for $46.
Young, unresolved nose: choco-cherry, sawed wood, dill, ash. Smooth, dapper, restrained. Fine albeit tight tannins. The clean, ripe fruit – showing some tobacco but not a hint of greenness – is deepened by dark minerals and subtle wood. A delicate astringency velvets the long finish. Good potential. Revisit in five years.
Saumur 2009, La Charpentrie, Domaine du Collier
100% Cabernet Franc. 13% ABV. Represented in Quebec by oenopole.
Plummy (a sign of the hot vintage?) and slatey. Round, rich and balanced. The tannins and acidity are fruit-cloaked but there’s plenty of underlying structure. Lightly yet pervasively astringent. The élevage shows on the long finish. While its potential is obvious, this is another case of a bottle too young.
Chinon 2009, La Croix Boisée, Domaine Bernard Baudry
100% Cabernet Franc, aged in barrel, not filtered or fined. 13.5% ABV. Represented in Quebec by Balthazard.
So closed on the nose: wood, wet slate and not much else. Closed on the palate, too. Ripe, even liqueurish fruit, old wood, minerals. Sleek tannins. Rich, complete and in need of time, much time.
POSTLUDE
Vouvray moelleux 1986, Clos du Bourg, Domaine Huet
100% biodynamically farmed Chenin Blanc. 12% ABV. The 2007 runs $50.50 at the SAQ.
Amazing nose: dried pear, wax, straw, honey, turbinado sugar… Intense on the palate yet also elegant, reserved and nuanced. Neither dry nor sweet. Brilliant acidity. Chewing reveals all kinds of complexity. Spice, chalk, quartz, caramel, candied pineapple are only some of the flavours. A crème brûlée note lingers through the long finish. Astonishingly young and fresh. Wine of the tasting for most people around the table.
Côteaux du Loir 2009, Les Giroflées, Domaine Bellivière
A 100% biodynamically farmed Pineau d’Aunis rosé. 13.5% ABV. Represented in Quebec by Le Maître de Chai but I’m not sure they bring this wine in (our bottle was purchased at Flatiron Wines and Spirits in New York City).
Strawberry, wax, quartz on the nose. Smooth and quaffable. Off-dry. A basket of fresh berry fruit with just enough acidity and a touch of peppery spice. Simple but charming. Flavourwise, it made a fine pairing for pâte sucrée bars filled with a thin layer of pastry cream and topped with fresh raspberries and a rhubarb marshmallow, though in the best of all possible worlds the pastries would have been a little less sweet.
Symbiose’s Jura event at Bocata
Old Montreal wine bar Bocata has been holding a series of Thursday evening wine and food events in collaboration with various agencies. On January 23, the agency was Symbiose and the theme was the Jura. A friend from Besançon, just outside the Jura, and I made reservations.
With its stone walls, low, rough-beamed wood ceilings, fireplace, bookcases, warm lighting and seating for 30 or 40, the space is cosy, romantic and refreshingly unslick. The regular menu leans toward Spain and southern France, but ours was a Jurassic prix fixe: four courses for $40 or five for $45, wines included. We went the latter route.
The starter was a beautifully presented oyster on the half shell covered with a mince of sour apple and fennel, a credible match for the Côtes-du-Jura 2010, Naturé, Domaine Berthet-Bondet ($29.77, Symbiose, 6 bottles/case). Naturé, one of Savagnin‘s former aliases, is now used exclusively to refer to unoxidized Savagnins. This one had a nose of straw, brine and preserved lemon with a musky Sauvignon-like cat pee note. In the mouth, it was rich and round on the surface but had plenty of underlying acidity and a long, rainwatery finish.
The Côtes-du-Jura 2011, Rubis, Domaine Berthet-Bondet (NLA) is a blend of Trousseau (60%), Poulsard (30%) and Pinot Noir (10%). True to its name, the wine is a limpid pale red. With coaxing, the stern, faintly bretty nose of shale and burned match gave up scents of crushed raspberries (fruit and leaves). Light-bodied, minerally and tart, it had a silky texture, shy fruit and not much depth. The finish brought a surprising note of orange peel. What the wine needed was food to perk it up, and this it got in an earthy bowl of Puy lentils flavoured with smoky Morteau sausage.
Next, a dish – actually a shallow bowl – of mussels and scallops, the latter cut into mussel-size pieces, in a curry-scented carrot soup/sauce/purée: an excellent match for the L’Étoile 2008, Domaine de Montbourgeau, which had wowed the MWG in November 2011. (The 2010 is currently available at the SAQ ($21.55, 11557541).) Made from Chardonnay and possibly a little co-planted Savagnin, it spends around 18 months in 230-litre oak barrels and 600-litre demi muids. A middleweight that flowed smoothly on the palate, this had a classic, complex nose of browning apple, marzipan, hazelnuts, corn silage and dried pine needles. The lightly oxidized fruit was brightened by acidity and did a slow-fade on the long finish. A complete wine, lacking nothing.
By this point, we had become seriously impressed with the food – not just the execution, which was flawless, but also the clear knowledge of how to pair dishes with Jura wines. How many local chefs appreciate curry’s affinity for oxidized Jura whites, let alone use the spice with such an elegant hand? We asked the waiter to transmit our compliments to the chef. Before long, he stopped at our table: young, Limousin native Benjamin Léonard, who, it turns out, did a stint at Arbois’s top restaurant (two Michelin stars), Jean-Paul Jeunet.
The next wine was the Arbois-Pupillin 2009, Les Vianderies, Domaine de la Renardière ($29.84, Symbiose, 12 bottles/case), a small-production, old-vine Chardonnay cuvée. Fermentation and maturation last 18 months and take place in 500-litre tonneaux. This had a wafting nose of lemon, hawthorn and chalk with a hint of smoke and ash. On the palate, it was dry, fresh and pure – very chalky and citrusy – a lovely wine whose only weak point seemed its fleeting finish. Still, it made a fine pairing for the most accomplished dish of the evening: a moist, meltingly tender round of turkey breast stuffed with foie gras, cooked sous vide, served in a foamy vin jaune sauce and garnished with hedgehog mushrooms and a few tiny nuggets of sautéed foie gras.
Lastly, accompanied by an 18-month Comté, came a 2005 Château Chalon, Domaine Berthet-Bondet (NLA). Aromatically dazzling: walnut, curry powder, dried corn, almond, even a little banana peel. Delicate, minerally, subtly oxidized in the mouth. Rich but dry in a Fino-like way, with fine but sustained acidity. Not as deep or rich as some yet elegant and beautiful all the same.
To say we were satisfied would be the understatement of the century. The QPR was off the charts; we would have considered it a bargain to have paid $45 for the food alone. This may have been a case of the planets aligning – a Jura-trained chef egged on by a Jura-enamoured agent and given free rein to concoct a Jura-inspired tasting menu to accompany a series of fine Jura wines – but the overall quality was so high, I doubt it was only that. Both my friend and I plan to return to check out the regular menu.
Two more Bocata wine events – both even more affordable than the Jura tasting – are planned for February: Rézin and Beaujolais on the 21st and oenopole and Greek terroirs on the 28th. And it looks like there may soon be some interesting local developments on the Jura front. Stay tuned for details.
MWG November 9th tasting: report (1/5)
A tasting that featured several new arrivals, including a few wines from the November 8th Cellier release. We began with a pair of top Muscadets.
Muscadet de Sèvre et Maine 2010, Fief du Breil, Domaine de la Louvetrie (Domaines Landron) ($24.75, Rézin)
100% biodynamically farmed Melon de Bourgogne from 40-year-old vines growing in quartz and orthogneiss soil. Pneumatically pressed. The must undergoes cold débourbage (clarification by racking the must after allowing suspended particles to settle out) before three weeks’ fermentation in concrete vats with native yeasts. The wine is then chilled and lightly sulphured to prevent malolactic fermentation and aged on the lees with regular stirring for 14 to 24 months, depending on the vintage. Another squirt of sulphur dioxide is added on bottling.
Lemon and chalk over faint gunflint and iodine. Rich in extract but fresh, vibrant and very dry. Fruity until the keen acidity swells and sea stones roll in. Long, tingly finish. Dazzling in its understated way. A thoroughbred that will only improve with a few years in the cellar. (Buy again? Definitely.)
Muscadet de Sèvre et Maine 2010, Expression de Granit, Domaine de l’Écu ($20.70, 10282873)
100% biodynamically farmed Melon de Bourgogne from 45- to 55-year-old vines grown in granitic soil. Pneumatically pressed. No débourbage. Fermented with indigenous yeasts in temperature-controlled (15–17ºC) vats. Aged on the lees. 12% ABV.
Sweet apple fruit and blossom along with the expected mineral and seaside aromas. More buxom – rounder, fruitier, richer – than usual and than the 2010 Fief du Breil. Simple, green apply and restrained until chewed, then a matrix of lemon and minerals laser-etched with acid. Pure, bracing, mouth-filling and long. (Buy again? Yes, to stash away for five or ten years.)
Clos Ouvert and Hôtel Herman
As the tasting of Péron wines at Hôtel Herman wound down, business at the restaurant began picking up and, like several other tasters, I decided to stick around and have a bite, a decision made easier by the convivial setup, small plate approach and appealing by-the-glass selection of wines. That other friends and acquaintances – a MWG member, an SAQ wine advisor, a reporter from La Presse, staff from nearby restaurants, a cohort from Rézin – began trickling in only sealed the deal.
Installed on the other side of the room, the Rézin gang appeared to be focused on a half dozen bottles they had brought with them and a 20-something guy wearing a t-shirt emblazoned with the word Morgon. Glasses were being poured for some of the staff and several patrons. Eventually, Rézin rep Steve came to our end of the bar and explained that the t-shirt wearer was a visiting winemaker who was friends with Mathieu Lapierre and we shouldn’t miss his formidable old-vine cuvée – old here meaning from stock first planted 350 years ago – made from a forgotten grape variety.
Glass in hand, I introduced myself to the winemaker. His name? Louis-Antoine Luyt. He reached for the bottle of the formidable wine and poured me a taste, explaining that it was made from Païs grapes. That brought to mind another wine made from an obscure grape, the 100% Fer Servadou Marcillac “Lo Sang del Païs.” While Luyt’s Païs smelled and tasted nothing like a Gamay (or a Marcillac, for that matter), the similarities with a Beaujolais cru were obvious. “This is the first I’ve ever heard of a Païs grape in the Beaujolais,” I mentioned. “What’s the back story?”
“Beaujolais?! My wines are from Chile. Pais was brought to the Americas by Spaniards in the 16th century and planted to make sacramental wine. It’s probably the same as California’s Mission grape.”
“But, but the Morgon t-shirt, Mathieu Lapierre…”
“Well, I’m from France, I love Beaujolais and I went to school with Mathieu. When I decided to make my own wine, I set out looking for a challenge and ended up in Chile.”
He went on to explain that he and partners eventually found a vineyard to lease in the Maule valley. Located about 35 km from the coast at an altitude of between 300 and 700 m, the vineyard was already planted to several varieties, all ungrafted. The parcels are dry farmed and manually worked in compliance with organic principles. The wine-making is natural, the sulphur regime minimal. The domaine is called Clos Ouvert, a name nearly as sweet as Domaine du Possible‘s.
I wasn’t taking notes but, assuming I’m remembering this correctly, Luyt offered tastes of two vintages of the Pais de Quenehuao (the 2010 for sure and maybe the 2011). Both were riper than a Bojo and had a completely different flavour profile, yet the weight, acidity, structure and sappiness were very Bojo-like, due surely in part to a similar wine-making approach that includes carbonic maceration. Also poured were samples of: the 2010 Cinsault “Quella”, which can stand comparison with Languedoc Cinsaults; the 2010 Primavera, an easy-drinking, Carignan-dominated blend; and the 2011 Carménère “Cauquenes”, the first and only wine made from that grape that I’d ask for a second glass of. There may also have been a Cabernet Franc. None of the wines were fruit bombs. All were balanced, more savoury than sweet and possessed of a minerally streak that was unlike any I’ve encountered in Andean wines and that had me thinking terroir, especially since the wines weren’t slavish imitations of their French homologues. Most of all, they were food-friendly and drinkable – what the French call digeste.
“Don’t take this wrong,” I said, “but I’m not normally a fan of Chilean wines. They often taste like tomato – the plant, not the fruit – and seem devoid of finesse. So, I mean it as a compliment when I say I’d never guess these wines were from Chile.”
“I don’t like a lot of Chilean wines either. That was a big part of the challenge I mentioned earlier.”
Rézin is bringing in the wines, which will begin arriving in November when the 2010 Pais hits our shores. All will be available only in cases of 12 bottles and through the private import channel. Prices have yet to be determined but should run under $25 a bottle for individuals and even less for restaurants. I look forward to spending some quality time with them and you should too.
My mini review of Hôtel Herman is after the jump.
MWG August 16th tasting: report (3/5)
A flight of three Morgons from leading “natural” producers. In all cases, the grapes are organically or biodynamically farmed, the wine-making is non-interventionist, only indigenous yeasts are used and the wines are bottled without filtering or fining and with no or minimal sulphur dioxide.
Morgon 2010, Nature, M. Lapierre ($29.30, Rézin, NLA)
Wet stones, berries, sap and eventually leaf mould. Bright acid; light but intense fruit; fine, silky tannins. Supple and pure, the wine slips through the mouth, leaving a scent of minerals, raspberries and flowers. (Buy again? Sure.)
Morgon 2010, Côte du Py, Jean Foillard ($33.75, Rézin, NLA)
Beautiful, fresh nose of red berries with hints of spice and forest floor. Slightly weightier and more richly textured than the Lapierre. The tannins seem light until the minerally finish; in fact, however delicately, this is a structured and layered wine. Morgon at its purest and most seductive. (Buy again? Absolutely.)
Morgon 2009, Vieilles Vignes, Georges Descombes ($30.25, Rézin)
Deeper, darker nose: black cherry, dried wood, slate, faint pepper. Smooth and suave with rich fruit, a fine-grained texture and underlying tannins that turn assertive on the kirschy finish. True to the vintage, a substantial wine light on nothing except, perhaps, charm, though that may come with time. A good candidate for cellaring. (Buy again? A couple of bottles to lay down and forget about for a decade.)
Be there or be square
The 2010 edition of Raspipav‘s Salon des vins d’importation privée, the city’s most enjoyable wine show, is taking place this Sunday and Monday, November 14 and 15, at the Marché Bonsecours in Old Montreal. The doors are open to the general public from noon to 7 p.m. on Sunday and from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. on Monday. $15 gets you admission, a tasting glass and a few coupons you use to pay for the wines you taste. Additional coupons are available for purchase, though in practice few booths charge for tastes if they see that you’re serious about wine appreciation.
More than 500 wines, none of them available at the SAQ, will be poured. A pride of visiting winemakers will also be on hand to present their products and answer questions.
Several agencies have events with winemakers planned in the days before and after the salon. For example, on Sunday evening, La QV will be holding what looks like a fun and affordable cocktail dînatoire with Spanish and French winemakers in their new space on Beaubien. Rézin is organizing several events, including a dinner on Thursday featuring some of the delightful wines of Gaillac’s Domaine de la Causse Marines at Les Trois Petits Bouchons. And oenopole is hosting François Barmès of the biodynamic Alsatian estate Barmès-Buecher for a “six à sec” at Le Comptoir Charcuteries et Vins on Monday and a $90 (taxes included) four-course, six-wine meal at Au Cinquième Péché on Tuesday.
Brett happens 